Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Gold has surged to a new record above $5,500 an ounce as a lack of liquidity helps to accelerate a nine-day rally. The price of bullion has once again soared this week, fuelled by a weaker dollar and investor flight from sovereign bonds and currencies. Martin Ritchie is our metals and mining reporter.
We're in territory now where the prices have gone up so much that, you know, it has sort of changed market dynamics. And, you know, we did reference some people, some analysts in the market today saying, you know, these kind of levels, you know, banks don't really want to trade so much. The risks are higher. That just tampers down liquidity.
So the remaining market players are sort of fewer and far between. And that's a kind of environment where you get bigger amplified price moves.
Martin Ritchie speaking to us there is growing bets on a dovish Fed policy shift, helping propel a record-breaking rally across commodities with gold, copper and silver all hitting record highs.
The surge in gold and other precious metals came after the Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged in a widely expected move. Traders largely looked past the decision, focusing instead on the weakening dollar.
The greenback has continued to slide after pairing some losses on Wednesday, even as the Treasury Secretary Scott Besant came out to affirm the US always has a strong dollar policy. His remarks come after President Trump sparked a sell-off in the currency by suggesting he's comfortable with a weaker dollar.
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Chapter 2: What factors are contributing to the surge in gold prices?
Shares in the bank up just over 1%.
Meanwhile, the world's largest tech firms are showing no sign of easing up on artificial intelligence spending as earnings reveal plans worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Meta alone has ambitions to spend as much as $135 billion this year, as Microsoft also ratcheted up capital expenditure by a higher than expected 66%. We've got a view on both companies from our tech editor, Vlad Savov.
For Meta, it's all AI. It's AI first. It's do or die. There's no plan B. So it's more of a, let's say, pure play on AI. And then you also have to consider the products that they have. Meta is building up. Mark Zuckerberg's super intelligence team is only just going to introduce these new AI models.
So there's more of a mystery with meta, whereas Microsoft's Copilot products, its integration into things like Excel and Word is already out there. And it's worth saying it isn't great. Nobody is really buying into Copilot as being a superior product than ChatGPT.
Vlad Savov speaking as The Information reports Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon are in discussions to invest as much as $60 billion in OpenAI as part of a major new funding round. This as analysts are increasingly warning of a potential AI bubble forming, in part because of the circular nature of some of those investments.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for more sophisticated ties with China during his visit to the country. Speaking alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, Starmer also called for meaningful dialogue on areas of disagreement. He also emphasised the importance of international cooperation.
I made a promise when we were elected into government that I would make Britain face outward again because, as we all know, events abroad affect everything that happens back in our home countries, from prices on the supermarket shelves to how secure we feel.
Keir Starmer is the first British Prime Minister in eight years to visit China as part of efforts to reset relations that have been frozen since 2018 over alleged human rights abuses and other matters. China's official Xinhua news agency has hailed the event as a pivotal moment while urging the UK to adopt policies free from external influence.
And the US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that time is running out to make a nuclear deal with the United States. In a social media post, Trump said the fleet of American ships ordered to the region is ready to fulfil its mission with speed and violence if necessary.
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